Page 30 of Briggs
“Never?”
I shook my head.
“We’ll have to change that, then,” Briggs said. He lowered his head a bit, hesitated, smiled, and then moved close enough that I could feel his breath on my face, but his lips hovered just barely off mine. “If you don’t like it, you’ll have to let me know, but I’ve always found kissing to be incredibly sensual.”
I felt his lips touch mine for the first time and melted. His lips were warm and soft, yet firm enough to control the kiss without excessive pressure or making me feel uncomfortable. I grabbed hold of his sides, and as Briggs’s hands held my face gently in his hands, I did something I’d never done before—I trusted enough to let go.
Chapter 11
Briggs
My first thought when I felt Todd melt against me was to pull him tighter and ravish his mouth. But I knew that wasn’t what he needed. Not so early in our relationship and certainly not for his first kiss. Would we get there one day? Maybe, but if we didn’t, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I was happy to simply be with him and have him as willing as he was.
Todd was hesitant in his responses, and his inexperience showed, but that didn’t mean his kiss didn’t have an impact on me. Quite the opposite, in fact, and it was a fighting battle to keep certain parts of me away from him when every time I moved, he moved with me. I finally gave up and let him feel my body, all of it, against his.
I had kissed some, but for the most part, I found kissing to be too intimate an act to share with a random stranger that I’d just met for a bit of mutual pleasure. But this was Todd, my mate, and he was my everything. We would go on to share so much more than just kisses, but I hoped that this wouldn’t be our first and last.
I took my time slowly exploring his mouth with my tongue. As the kiss went on, Todd began to engage more, and hisparticipation grew. So did his confidence, it seemed, and his hands started roaming up and down my sides before they slid around to my back. I would never complain about my mate touching me, and I was enjoying it so much more than I probably should. I was so lost in the moment that I wasn’t paying nearly as close attention as I should have, and when I encountered a quite sharp canine, I was surprised. Maybe I shouldn’t have been, but I hadn’t expected Todd’s cheetah to be quite so present. Not after everything he had been through.
Despite the desire to continue exploring Todd in this way, the need to breathe deeper was becoming necessary, and I pulled my lips away just enough to be able to take a deep breath. Todd tried to follow, at first, but he started panting.
“I…I feel odd. Not in a bad way though. Different. There is an ache that I’ve only felt when I had my heat.”
Immediately, that had me taking a step back. “What do you mean? You shouldn’t be going into heat already.” I touched his forehead with the back of my hand. He didn’t feel warm despite the fact that his cheeks were red.
Todd smiled, then cleared his throat. “No.” He suddenly found interest in my shirt, and although I wanted to raise his chin so we were still making eye contact, I didn’t. This was new to him, and he needed to have the power to share things when he was ready, not when I wanted him to. “I’m definitely going to need to borrow a pair of sweats or something in order to get home.” Todd reached up and started messing with the buttons on my shirt.
I took another deep breath, making sure I wasn’t too terribly obvious, but with where Todd’s fingers were, there was no hiding it. I didn’t smell cum, but I did scent something else. Something sweeter that had my wolf howling in my mind. Our mate was turned on, and his body was reacting to ours. He desired us, and it was time to move things to the other room.
I tried to argue with my wolf, but it wasn’t working. He was stubborn, and after what Canyon had told me earlier, I wasn’t going to deny what my wolf and Todd’s body were saying.
I moved my hand to Todd’s shoulder before I leaned forward and placed my forehead on his. “You can say no at any time,” I started. “Even if we’ve already started where this is most likely going.”
“Yes. I want this.”
I chuckled. “You didn’t let me finish.” I opened my eyes and stared into Todd’s now dark blue ones. “You keep saying you want me to claim you, and although I feel it’s probably a bit too early, I’m willing. There are a whole lot of benefits to being able to share a bond with your mate, and I’ll admit that now that I have you here and have had a taste of you, I’d like more.”
“Still yes. I want that too. I…will you teach me? I know how it works, but I don’t know how to do things to you.”
I tilted my head to the side. I would certainly bottom for my mate. Especially if it was something he needed. But in order to claim him, I’d have to be on the giving end of things.
“What is it that you want to know? I can teach you what I know, but that’s about it.”
“What pleases you. I don’t know how to do that. I know how to…” Todd shrugged. “Fuck. Specifically, get fucked. But it was always painful, and I never enjoyed it. My dick is so hard right now it’s throbbing, and I really want you to touch it. I know it’ll feel good if you do. But can you teach me how to make you feel that way as well?”
I shook my head. “If you think for even a moment that I’m not about three strokes of your hand on me away from coming, think again. You’ve already brought me pleasure. I’m just as hard for you. I have enjoyed just kissing you, and that has brought me pleasure.”
I slid my hand down Todd’s arm and grabbed his hand. When I wrapped my fingers around his, I gave them a gentle tug. At a minimum, I wanted to take him to the bedroom and give him as much pleasure as I could. I could do that without ever taking my own clothing off if that’s what he needed from me to feel comfortable in the moment. Ideally, we’d both end up naked, and I’d be able to bring us both pleasure at the same time.
My hopes were almost crushed when Todd pulled back against my hand. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at my mate. I had thought we were going in this direction, but possibly not.
“I want. Please tell me we’re going up to your bedroom.”
I smiled at Todd. “That was the plan. I want to give you pleasure.” I would be a very happy man if I could experience that. From what I knew and what Todd had shared, he’d not ever known pleasure, and that just wasn’t right.
Todd’s face changed from one of seriousness to pure happiness. “Yes. That. I want that.” He started walking, then stopped again. “Wait, you’re going to too, right?”
I chuckled. “That was the hope, but I’ll be perfectly all right if we only focus on you this time.”
